Shields
by Impractical Joker
Summary: A Jaune/Pyrrha-centric story tracing the two's path of growth, with some romance along the way. May include Ren/Nora later.
1. Chapter 1: Long Night

**A/N: I've been wanting to write a story about Jaune and Pyrrha for quite some time now, but work has been getting in the way until now. I wish I have the perseverance to see this story through, so I need your encouragement if you like this story and want to see more of it. I have some vague ideas about where this story is going but I am fuzzy about the details, so ideas are greatly appreciated.**

**Your comments are all I can ask for. Enjoy!**

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Chapter 1: Long night

"You have to raise your shield higher. You would want to maximize the area covered by your shield."

The exhausted Jaune's brain could barely register his partner/teacher's words, and was able only to half-consciously raise his sore left arm fractionally. In the maelstrom of pain and exhaustion and semi-coherent thoughts that was his mind he braced himself for the next blow.

The blow came, perceived by Jaune as a flare of pain and heat that propagated from his left arm to his shoulder and then his whole body.

The leader of Team JNPR and his partner were sparring in a remote corner of Beacon Academy's vast school ground. Since the incident in Forever Fall, they had been sneaking out of their team room every night after lights out to put on the extra training Jaune asked for. They chose the place out of the hope that they would not be spotted so easily and start unnecessary rumours (Anyone with any experience with gossips could instantly see the flaw in their plan).

Pyrrha looked at the sweat-drenched form of her partner/student/crush (_what gives you that idea? I'm just doing the part of a good partner and friend!_) and knew from experience that he was at his limit. Any more and she would have to carry him all the way from this secluded area on the school ground to their room.

"Alright Jaune," said Pyrrha softly, lowering Miló, "You did fine tonight. I can see you are improving. Is there anything you want to ask or talk about?"

Jaune, leaning on a tree, sweat pouring from every pore, more breathed than said "Why, why does all we do for the past two weeks consist of you bashing me with your sword and making me do Aura training?" He paused to catch his breath, "I'm not going to kill any Grimm with my shield or regeneration you know."

Since they started their private training, Pyrrha had learned one thing: it was much harder to be a trainer than a trainee. Pyrrha herself had gone through some hellish training to get where she was – where do you think all the strength and skills came from – and during all that time she often wondered what an easy time her trainers were having, simply giving orders and shouting. Now she knew that getting others to get your ideas and follow your instructions was much harder than it seemed. Especially when half the time your brain wanted to do nothing more than admiring the lean but athletic physique laid in front of you and you only, what with those bulging biceps and sculpted back – no, she's not letting herself go down that path, not now.

"Answer me Jaune," Pyrrha said, "what do you think is your shield for?"

Jaune wanted to avoid the obvious answer, but he could only manage "Well… protecting myself?"

Pyrrha shook her head slightly, "I can't say you are wrong, but you only gave half the answer."

She walked closer and placed both hands on Jaune's shoulders, green eyes looking straight into his blue ones.

"Remember this, Jaune," if Pyrrhs usually sounded serious, she sounded downright solemn now, "The shield protects the Hunter, and the Hunter protects the weak. You come from a family of great heroes. Why are they heroes?"

Obviousness won once more, "They… killed monsters?"

"Again, a half-answer. They are heroes because they protected others. Killing creatures of Grimm was just the means to that end."

Pyrrha placed her right hand on Jaune's battered shield. "You are heir to this shield. Generations of Arcs have put themselves between the innocent and the menace of Grimm with this shield as their only protection, and many lives had been saved thanks to it. But a shield, however sturdy, cannot protect others by itself. It needs a wielder at least as strong as it is."

Jaune took a good look at his shield. It was obviously old, with the marks of countless scratches, stings and swipes on the surface. Numerous dents had been made and beaten flat again. Jaune imagined the heroics that his forebears performed. Now that Pyrrha mentioned it, the task of matching them seemed impossibly daunting. Surely he had directed his team to victory against a Death Stalker, and single-handedly (so he thought) taken out an Ursa Major (_suck on that, Cardin_), but was he good enough for the family crest on the shield?

"I don't know if I'm up to it." Jaune looked wistfully at Pyrrha's gloved hand, "What if I'm just not good enough, and shame my family?"

A smile spread on Pyrrha's face. It was a smile of infinite tenderness. Against the light of the shattered moon, she looked almost saintly.

"I've never doubted for a moment that you can do it. Just believe in yourself. Believe in… me."

Jaune looked back up at her, seeing the gentle firmness in her eyes, and said "…Okay."

* * *

The room shared by Team JNPR was dark and silent when Jaune and Pyrrha sneaked, almost on tip-toes, back from the showers. They were startled into almost giving out a cry when Nora maoned "Give me more, Ren…" only to find that their hyperactive teammate was sleep talking.

They whispered Good night to each other before sneaking back into their beds on either sides of the room, Jaune's next to Ren's and Pyrrha's next to Nora's.

Jaune lay on his side and could not sleep, the words and images from his night with Pyrrha still vivid in his mind. "The shield protects the Hunter, and the Hunter protects the weak." What does that even mean?

He closed his eyes, but Pyrrha's face, framed by moonlight, eyes green as emeralds, lingered in his mind's eyes.

Now, Pyrrha… Lately Jaune had found himself thinking more and more of his partner. Not just her patient instructions and kind encouragement, which he was immensely grateful for, but also… _her_. Pyrrha the girl. Pyrrha the charming, friendly and _attractive_ girl. The girl with the most striking red hair and perfect figure and those large and firm – _Jaune Arc you are thinking like a pervert. Stop it._

Jaune could not sleep for an hour.

* * *

Pyrrha laid on her side and could not sleep, the despondent form of Jaune still vivid in her mind. Self-doubt rose up, an unfamiliar sensation for her. Was she good enough a teammate/teacher/not-girlfriend (_for the last time!_) for him? He made great progress, for sure, but he still had a huge hurdle that was his inferiority complex to overcome.

There was also the problem of his Semblance. Given his potential Jaune should be showing signs of what his Semblance would be like already; yet so far Pyrrha was still only able to coax out of him the general kinds of Aura effects. Was she doing something wrong? Was she, four times champion, too confident in her ability?

Pyrrha's frustration at Jaune's training was compounded by frustration of another kind. When is he going to start acting like a normal seventeen-year-old boy in the presence of an attractive member of the opposite sex? Pyrrha had no conceit of any sort, but she knew for a fact that she was attractive; hot, if you don't want to put too fine a point on it. And she thought she was making her interest obvious enough. Why has Jaune not noticed?

Pyrrha could not sleep for an hour.

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**A/N: I'm taking some liberty with the canon regarding Jaune's Semblance. The same may happen to other elements of the story later, if I think they would make a more interesting story. Just so you guys know.**

**Until next time!**


	2. Chapter 2: Yang's Field Day

**A/N: A belated season's greeting! I wish you all had a great holiday. Anyways, here it is, the second chapter. This time we have more Ren/Nora, just because they are so adorable. I hope you like it. Your reviews are all I can hope for.**

**Disclaimer (I forgot about it last time): RWBY is the property of Monty Oum and all the awsome people at Rooster Teeth.**

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Chapter 2: Yang's Field Day

Jaune awoke to the sound of a sudden crash on the bed next to his, Ren's. Still groggy from the lack of adequate sleep last night, Jaune simply shifted on his bed without opening his eyes. His mind still doing the routine booting check-ups of "where am I?", "who am I?" and "what do I do now?" that everyone carries out whenever waking up, Jaune heard a voice, so energetic that it was almost rude for such a sleepy morning, come from Ren's bed.

"Wake up, Ren!" said the voice. "They're serving breakfast! We should really hurry up before everyone wakes up and there's a long queue."

"Are they serving pancakes today?" said a calm, level voice.

Jaune finally mustered enough energy to open his eyes, and turned lazily to the side to face Ren. His teammate was lying on his back, arms stretched out, bent as if surrendering to someone. His pink eyes were half open, looking vacantly at the figure straddling his body.

Said figure was wearing a t-shirt of the most offensively girlish shade of pink, along with a pair of baby blue shorts. Short orange hair framed a smile so bright it was of a kind that only ever appears on the abnormally cheerful, or the cheerfully abnormal. Nora, in other words.

Nora's thighs clamped onto the sides of Ren's waist, and her hands pinned firmly by the sides of his head, as if trying to prevent him from escaping. Jaune saw not a trace of bafflement or annoyance on Ren's face. Jaune would even swear that he saw the faintest hint of a smile.

"How did you know that?" said Nora, "Anyway, get up already! If you keep being so lazy and sluggish you would become a sloth! Or are you a sloth? Should I use sloth-call to wake you up? Grrrrrrah! Grrrrrrah!"

The door opened and in walked Pyrrha, already washed up and changed. Today they were having combat practice, so she was in her combat dress. She stood at the door to look at Nora and Ren carrying out their daily waking ritual.

"Human call is good enough, Nora," said Ren.

"Boop," said Nora, flicking Ren's nose.

Pyrrha exchanged a look with Jaune, and they both chuckled knowingly.

* * *

Thanks to Nora's pushing, Team JNPR were the first to enter the canteen. Nora squeed and made a bee line to the pancake counter, ravishing the discs of pancakes and jars of syrup. She was at her fourth helping when Team RWBY entered.

They took their usual place, right across the table from Team JNPR, and started eating away. Yang chippered nonsensical animatedly with Nora over her pancakes while Ruby massacred chocolate cookies by the dozen. Presently, seeing Pyrrha walk away to get orange juice for her teammates and herself, Yang dashed around the table, and took Pyrrha's place at the table beside Jaune.

She wrapped her strong arm firmly around the listless boy's neck. "You don't look so good, had a rough night?" said Yang, smiling meaningfully.

"I didn't sleep very well, yes. Thanks for asking," said Jaune.

"You know what I've heard, Vomit Boy? Ask me what I heard," said Yang.

Jaune leaned his body to his right in a vain attempt to put some comfortable distance between himself and his captor. "What have you heard, Yang?"

"I heard the rumour mill turning. And boy what interesting things it ground out." Said Yang with a gigantic smirk.

"So… how does that concern me? I'm not a gossip, you know I'm not!" said Jaune. He knew where this was going, and hoped to heavens he was wrong.

"Well, it concerns you because the rumour mill ground out something about you," said Yang, "Where were you last night after light out?"

"At my room, where else?" Jaune was a bad liar and he knew it.

"That's peculiar, Vomit Boy," said Yang. A Beowulf toying with its prey would have shown more mercy. "Because a reliable witness saw a blond guy who looked suspiciously like you with a red-haired girl who, guess what, just so happened to look exactly like our favourite cereal box mascot, heading to a quiet corner of the school grounds last night. Are you saying my informant was lying or mistaken?"

"That must be the case," said Jaune, heart pumping almost audibly, "yesterday's lessons were tiring. Your witness must have been seeing things that weren't there because of the exhaustion."

Nora and Ruby were leaning towards the scene of the interrogation, listening intently. Ren, Weiss and Blake remained unfazed and minded their own business, but for some unknown reasons Blake's bow was slanted _just_ perceptibly towards the direction of Yang and Jaune.

"That _might_ be the case, but then can you explain to me why one of your roommates just told me that, last night, she – or he - was disturbed from sleep to find that you and Pyrrha returned to your room well past midnight?"

Jaune genuinely had no idea what she was talking about, and told her so. Then he remembered.

_They were startled into almost giving out a cry when Nora moaned "Give me more of that, Ren…" only to find that their hyperactive teammate was sleep talking._

Blood rushed away from his face. "Nora, how could you!" said Jaune incredulously.

Yang clenched her fists triumphantly.

"Hey! I'm a light sleeper, and you aren't exactly good at… whatsitsname, not being noticeable," said Nora. "'Stealth'," whispered Blake. "That's right, stealth," continued Nora, "also, I didn't _want_ to do it. I was… really enjoying that dream." Her cheeks reddened a shade deeper for no reason.

"Yeah, I guess you were." Said Jaune. The best way to distract people from a cat that is out of the bag is to release another. "Ren, you wanna know what I heard somebody say last night in her sleep?"

It was Nora's turn to lose colour in her face. "We're talking about you, not me, or Ren!" she said anxiously.

Ren looked up from his breakfast, eyeing questioningly at Jaune, then Nora.

"It's nothing Ren, he's just joking," said Nora. _Change the topic change the topic_. "Are you going to eat that sausage? I'd love to have your sausage."

"Of course you do," said Yang, her smirk widening even more: it was the most fun she'd had for ages. Sadly, her fun was immediately dampened by Ren's murderously cold glare.

"Looks like you guys are having fun! Am I missing something?" said a voice from behind Jaune. Pyrrha finally returned from her mission.

"It's nothing, cereal box," said Yang. She released her hold on Jaune and stood up. "You don't look so well, did you sleep well last night?"

"Why, as a matter of fact, I didn't," said Pyrrha, oblivious of the doom that had befallen her, "thanks for the concern."

"I wonder who – I mean what – kept you awake?" said Yang.

"Yang, we have combat practice coming up," said Jaune from his seat, "if we don't eat up we aren't going to have the energy to last till lunch."

Well, no point finishing the fun so soon, thought Yang. Better save this up for when I have leisure.

She got back into her seat beside Blake and finished her breakfast, not uttering one word more, but kept eyeing her friendly team across the table meaningfully with barely contained chuckles.

* * *

"Today you will have your first formal practice of pair tactics."

Glynda Goodwitch's voice was not especially loud but was clearly audible around the whole arena.

"However great your battle prowess is, you will always need the cooperation and assistance of your partner if you are to become a truly proficient Huntsman or Huntress," said Prof. Goodwitch, "No one is perfect under all circumstances. That is why if you and your partner can cover each other's weaknesses, the combined power can be greater than the sum of the two. Today, our objective is to discover your and your partner's weaknesses, and start looking for a way to compensate for them. It is not an easy task, but I expect highly from you. Any questions?"

"It's not really that hard a task," thought Jaune, "Pyrrha's biggest weakness is having a weakling like me as a partner, nice and simple. Though I don't see a way to compensate for that."

Pyrrha seemed to have sensed what he was thinking, and putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I'm really excited about having an opportunity to see how you have progressed, Jaune," said she, smiling tenderly, "I'm sure we will show everyone what a good team we make." Jaune grinned unassuredly in response.

Nora was giddy with excitement at the prospect of fighting alongside Ren, and cracked her knuckles with a wide grin on her face. Ren checked his weapons wordlessly.

Ruby was equally excited and wrapped Weiss in her arm. "Weiss, it's our chance! Show the world what a _great_ team Ruby Rose and her awesome partner Weiss are! Owwww we're gonna kick so much ass!"

"I'll be thankful enough if you don't do anything stupid and ruin my performance," said her partner, crossing her arms and turning her head sideway. Her head's angle barely concealed the slightly raised corner of her lips.

Yang and Blake simply exchange a smirk and looked back at the battle area. A smirk that said "It's murder time and we're gonna enjoy it."

And boy, were they gonna.

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**So ends chapter two. It's holiday season so I hope I can get more writing done shortly.**

**Until next time!**


	3. Chapter 3: Partners

**A/N: This is the first time I have written fight scenes. And friends, I have to say it was fun! If you have half as much fun reading it as I had writing, I will be very happy.**

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Chapter 3: Partners

The arena was drowned by the sound of excited chatter as every student (except Jaune) was getting pumped up for the upcoming pair tactics practice. Some students discussed strategies with their partners, some tried to intimidate their potential opponents while some other took out their weapons in preparation. Cardin took out his immense Almace and scowled around menacingly.

After much effort, Prof Goodwitch managed to prevail upon the students to calm down for two minutes and listen to the match-ups (which in itself was a testament to how excited the students were: Prof Goodwitch was normally _very_ good at being obeyed). The match-ups, in order of appearance, were:

[Blake Belladonna & Yang Xiao Long] vs [Dove Bronzewing & Sky Lark]

[Nora Valkyrie & Lie Ren] vs [Cardin Winchester & Russel Thrush]

[Jaune Arc & Pyrrha Nikos] vs [Ruby Rose & Weiss Schnee]

Blake and Yang glanced at their opponents and, as expected, saw their faces lose colour. Dove gulped hard and stared vacantly to the front, while his partner muttered inaudibly to himself. They knew from watching practices that the duo they were facing were not merely strong; they were _monsters_.

Her eyes still on the two hapless boys, Yang said, "I give them two minutes."

"One," replied Blake.

Simultaneously they smirked murderously.

Anticipation was high since they were the first match-up of the day. Most were cheering generally for the fighting and excitement ahead than for any participant in particular, except for Teams RWBY and JNPR who cheered loudly for Blake and Yang. "Go Team RWBY!" yelled Ruby. "Break a leg – theirs!" screamed Nora with a face that said she meant every word she uttered.

Yang reveled in the cheering and pumped her fists in the air _a la_ a boxing champion. She even high-fived Ruby who squeezed herself to the front row. Blake was much more composed, only smiling and nodding slightly at her friends.

Cardin and Russel were the only ones cheering for Dove and Sky, and that only a couple of half-hearted "Go get them girls!" and "Kick some ass!"

The two's spirits were not worked up at all, and their faces only became more ashen as they stepped onto the stage.

"The match ends when both partners' Aura reaches red," announced Prof Goodwitch, "Now, ready your weapons and step up to the mark. The match commences when I say 'Go'."

Yang was on the left, opposite Dove, and Blake was on the right, opposite Sky. The two boys took out their weapons and adopted their usual battle stance. If one was standing very closely, it could be seen that their hands were shaking slightly.

Yang activated Ember Celica with a flourish, revealing the red shells inside. She adopted a forward leaning stance, poised to dash out and strike.

Silently Blake unsheathed Gambol Shroud and transformed it to the pistol form. She turned her head slightly to Yang's side and winked once with her right eye. Her partner responded with a wink on the same side, and returned her focus on her opposite numbers.

"Ready…" said Prof Goodwitch.

The cheering stopped quickly. All was silent in the arena of battle.

Blake fixed her gaze on Dove, amber eyes narrowed. Her target felt a chill down his spine. His mind conjured up the image of a cat stalking its prey.

"…Go!"

Before the echoes of the word had died down, Blake struck out with her pistol-shaped weapon at the end of the black ribbon lightning fast, sped up by the recoil of a pistol shot, at her target…

_Sky_. The blue-haired boy lifted his weapon to parry the attack, but it was exactly what Blake wanted him to do. Her sickle-shaped weapon hooked onto his, and with a flick of her arm, Blake yanked it out of his hands.

Sky did not have enough time to take in what had just happened, and could only let his eyes instinctively follow his weapon's trajectory through the air, removing his attention from his opponents for a fraction of a second. It was the last mistake he made that day.

When Sky snapped back to the fight and returned his sight to the front, his field of vision was filled with a fast approaching yellow form. He made out the form of Yang, and then her face, a mix of a grin and a smirk, and then her fully drawn back right fist.

- A fist that connected with his face in a shotgun-enhanced hook. The dash of yellow that was caught by the corner of his left eye was the last image that he could later recall from today's battle, before all he remembered was a series of increasingly acute pain that flowered all over his body as Yang unleashed a blizzard of powerful punches one after another.

"Looks! (right uppercut) Like! (left cross, right hook) We've reached! (extra strong left uppercut, sending Sky into the air) The _punch_ line! (right hook that connected with Sky's centre of gravity as he reached the highest point, sending him flying to the edge of the stage)."

"Sky Lark is out!" announced Prof Goodwitch.

Having been concentrating on bracing himself for Blake's attack, Dove was stunned immobile when the attack did not materialize and struck his teammate instead. He only came to his senses when Yang was halfway through beating his partner to pulp, and, seeing Blake was uncovered and still retrieving her sword with the ribbon, he charged straight at her, aiming at her open left flank.

As he reached his target, his eyes saw his weapon go straight through Blake's body, but his weapon hand sent no feedback of a connected strike. He stood there incredulously, then remembered what Blake's Semblance was, and realized too late that he was in big trouble.

He turned to his left to see that the real Blake was on _his_ open left flank, katana-form weapon in hand, and dealt a dashing strike at him.

His brain could barely register this threat and he instinctively tried to parry the attack in an awkward fashion. He did stop the attack, but lost his balance. As he struggled to regain his footing, Blake had already turned around and launched a strike from another direction. Dove parried it even more awkwardly than last time and stumbled to one side.

Blake did not let up on her prey and repeated her attacks, leaving behind numerous shadow-clowns until the disoriented Dove could only see images of her.

After what felt like eternity for Dove, dodging and parrying desperately, he heard his assailant call out, "Yang!"

"Coming in!" came the reply in a cocky voice. A streak of yellow as fast as lightning came out from the all-encompassing circle of black and white. Blake had left an opening for Yang to deal the _coup de __grâce_, and Yang delivered by performing a flying kick from above to the dazed boy's face, which knocked him to the ground like a hammer flattening a nail.

The arena exploded into cheers. Ruby jumped up and down and hugged Weiss, whom she had dragged to the front row.

"Dove Bronzewing is out!" Prof Goodwitch announced above the cacophony, "The victors are Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long!"

The whole match took forty-eight seconds.

Sky and Dove scrambled back up to their feet, their heads held low.

Yang raised both fists above her head to the audience in celebration, while Blake wordlessly sheathed her weapon and made back towards the viewers' stand.

"Hey, partner!" Yang called out to her retreating form, and held out a fist, grinning. Blake turned back and hesitated for a moment, before holding out her own fist and bumping her partner's lightly. Her expressionless face bloomed into a smile.

Blake and Yang returned to their cheering friends and rested for a bit. Together they watched the next two matches. Both of them were good displays of Beacon students' battle prowess, though no team performed as spectacularly or dramatically well as Yang and Blake.

* * *

The next match would be Nora and Ren versus Cardin and Russel, the last match before lunch. "Hey, Ren," Nora said as the pair were doing stretching in preparation, "leave Cardin to me, will you?"

Ren knew that his partner/childhood friend was still mad at Cardin for being a bully to Jaune and that rabbit Faunus girl from before, and wanted to punish him. He was aware of Cardin's power and worried for his friend's safety; but he also knew that Nora was not the type to be dissuaded by warnings of danger. Besides, he had witnessed countless times Nora's inhuman destructive power, and secretly wished to see the bully get a taste of his own medicine. So, instead of trying to reason with her he simply said, "OK. Just don't do anything rash. Promise?"

"You got it!" came the cheerful reply.

When their names were called, the two pairs took to the stage. "Watch out! I'm gonna break your legs!" said Nora menacingly to Cardin.

"Ms Valkyrie," said Prof Goodwitch in her most school teacher-y voice, "This is a formal practice, not a place for personal vendetta!"

Nora grimaced a little at her scolding, and then made a face at Cardin.

Cardin was incensed. "I got this girl. You take care of that skinny boy," he told his partner.

As they got into position, Ren bowed to the audience, Prof Goodwitch and his opponents, before taking out his weapons from his sleeves. Nora took out Magnhild and transformed it into hammer form.

Cardin sized up his enemy, and, being a user of a similar weapon, knew that while the weapon was extremely powerful (_by the way, look at how small that girl is! How does she even _lift_ that thing?_), it would be a pain to maneuver. Dodge her first attack, and the lead would be his.

"Ready…" said Prof Goodwitch.

Nora half-kneeled, poised to leap at her opponent.

"…Go!"

Grinning immensely, Nora stood up straight again, and transformed Magnhild into grenade launcher form. "Gotcha, sucka!" she said as she shot a Dust-infused grenade at Cardin.

Caught completely off-guard, Cardin could not react to this unpleasant surprise apart from letting his jaw drop in utter incredulity. A brutal assault he was prepared for; _cunning_ he was not.

They say one can perceive time at a slower rate when one is in danger. Cardin did not believe it before now: as the grenade left the barrel in a flash of pink, he could see clearly the heart symbol on its tip.

Before a pink explosion knocked him back eight feet.

To Russel's credit, he did not freeze like his teammate Dove had done in the face of sudden reversal. Seeing that Nora's weapon would now leave her vulnerable to close-ranged attacks, he rushed forward to strike her. Nora's eyes widened in surprise.

He would have succeeded, if not for Ren who caught him from his side with StormFlower. The two were soon caught in a scuffle as Ren jumped, tumbled and dashed to evade Russel's attacks, all while pelting him with pistol fire and jabbing him with his twin blades. Ren was agile but his opponent was no slouch either, so neither seemed to be getting the upper hand anytime soon.

Capitalizing on her surprise attack, Nora rushed towards Cardin while transforming Magnhild into hammer form once again. When she was within three feet of her still unbalanced opponent, she leaped forward, hammer raised above her head.

"Kyaaaaa!" she screamed as she brought down her hammer in a devastating strike. Cardin barely had time to jump to one side to dodge the attack.

Not letting up, Nora unleashed a barrage of grenade-powered hammer strikes, forcing Cardin to receive every one of them with his mace. Soon his arm was sour with fatigue.

_Dank_! Cardin failed to counter a side-way swipe and was knocked onto his back.

Standing above him, Nora raised her hammer high, aiming at his defenseless left leg.

While Ren was fighting with Russel, he kept an eye on Nora at all times. Sensing what she was going to do, he broke away from his opposite number and did a sliding kick at Cardin, kicking him out of Nora's range.

Nora barely checked her attack. "Ren, I _had_ him there!" she protested loudly.

Without replying or looking back, Ren got back up and shot Almace out of Cardin's hand to the edge of the stage. Then, with a shot to Cardin's heart, he took him out of the fight.

Irate at not getting her satisfaction, Nora vented her anger on poor Russel. Her bubbly, cheery face was replaced by the face of a barbarian warrior as she went at him like an Ursa hungry for red sap. She smashed and swipe with power that seemed impossible from such a small frame. Her movements were brutal and unrelenting. Russel lasted ten seconds before he, too, was taken out with a strike to his chest.

As Prof Goodwitch announced the result, their friends cheered loudly for them. Especially loud was Jaune's exclamation "That showed them!"

Cardin looked at Ren and Nora furiously, but dared not speak a word. He stormed back to his seat alone, leaving Russel to go back on his own.

Nora raised Magnhild high and screamed "Yaaaaaaaaaa", while Ren bowed to his downed opponents, Prof Goodwitch and the audience, before taking Nora off the stage.

* * *

The canteen was filled with voices as students held heated discussions about the matches. No less heated was Nora's protest to Ren.

"Why didn't you let me finish him?" Nora said over a stack of food, "why did you help him?"

"You promised me not to do anything rash. Also, I wasn't helping him," said Ren, "I was helping _you_. He's not worth it."

"But he's such an asshole!" said Nora.

"That still doesn't make it okay to break someone's legs," said Ren, "we are Hunters. Hunters have standards. Hunters don't bring excessive damage to the defenseless, even if it's an enemy."

Nora grunted sulkily and ravished her lunch savagely. Ren did not say a word and ate his.

"Are you sure you don't want to make up with her?" said Pyrrha to him.

"Just let her be," he said, "she'll get over it soon."

At the other end of the table, while Ruby gushed over her sister's performance, and excitedly talk about her upcoming match with Jaune and Pyrrha, Jaune fidgeted thoughtfully at his plate, apprehensive about his match.

"You told Yang to eat up for her fight," said Pyrrha, who could guess what he was worried about, "yet you have not touched one bit of food."

"You know, I'm so afraid," said Jaune, voice shaking slightly, "I'm just not up to them." He eyed Ruby and Weiss.

"I'm sure you can do fine," said Pyrrha, "anyway, one should always face the reality of his own weakness rather than run from it."

"I'm not afraid for myself," said Jaune, his hands slapping on the table, "I'm afraid that I will humiliate you! You are just so… perfect and all that. You trained me well, but I know myself better. I know I won't last ten seconds against them!"

Pyrrha was saddened by his low self esteem, but at the same time was touched by his concern for her. Another part of her, the part that made her the same as any smitten seventeen-year-old girl, was screaming "He said I'm perfect! He said I'm _perfect_!"

"But you are not in this alone," she said, "we are partners. Remember what Prof Goodwitch said? 'The combined power can be greater than the sum of the two.' No shame befalls anyone who tries his best. Believe in yourself. Believe in me."

Jaune recalled the smile on her face against the moonlight from last night, and warmth came to his heart.

"Thank you, Pyrrha," said Jaune, "I'm so glad I have you."

Averting Jaune's eyes, Pyrrha let a smile escaped onto her face.

* * *

**A/N: God of Probability, please forgive me for the sin of Making Up Conviniently Neat Matchups. I did it in the name of Narrative Causality (look it up on TV Tropes), and not wanting to make up OCs.**

**The details of Cardin's teammates' weapons were intentionally left blank, because I didn't want to make up details that will later be inevitably contradicted by canon.**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Until next time!**


	4. Chapter 4: Left Hand Side

**A/N: This chapter is loooong (by my standard). I feel I went a little overboard with the fight, but who cares, it was _fun_ to write.**

**Added adventure to genre, because it is getting more action-y than I imagined.**

* * *

Chapter 4: Left Hand Side

Normally Weiss would tolerate the buzz and noise of the canteen out of necessity, eating with a kind of determined impassiveness; but today she seemed incapable of even that, and barely touched her austere lunch, only eating a ring around her apple and sipping a few spoonful of her oat porridge.

Ruby, oblivious of her partner's melancholy, leaned across the table to tell Pyrrha, who looked more thoughtful than usual, how she couldn't wait to see her "cool shield and sword-javelin-carbine _thing_ in action", and made the Mistral champion promise to show all her "awesome moves", especially her "poles-controlling power" in the upcoming match between their pairs. Pyrrha smiled and nodded politely.

Unable to contain her worries any longer, Weiss rose up and tapped Ruby on the shoulder. "Let's go get some fresh air," Weiss said.

Ruby looked at the three surviving cookies on the cookie tray longingly, and said pleadingly "but I haven't finished all the cookies!"

"I will buy you cookies next time," said Weiss (_as if you don't have enough blood sugar!_), "we need to talk, now."

Reluctantly, Ruby left her beloved dessert behind and followed Weiss out of the canteen to a quiet footpath behind. Here trees shaded the footpath, lined by benches. Some students were already sitting in small groups.

Weiss led Ruby to a particularly quiet corner, turned to her and said "I want your ideas about the match."

"Eh…" said Ruby (_is she asking for _my _advice?_), "you dragged me all the way here to ask me this?"

"What else do you think I did this for?" said Weiss, folding her arms, "we're going to face off against _Pyrrha_! You know, four times Mistral Tournament champion? Strongest student in our class? I don't know about you, but I am _not_ exactly thrilled at the prospect of losing the match miserably and humiliating myself."

"But, why do you ask me?" said Ruby, "you said you hate me telling you what to do!"

"Well, I suppose I did…" said Weiss (_why don't you have such a good memory when it comes to studying?_), "but this time's different. We are doing it as a team. And although you may be dim-witted sometimes, you have really good intuition in combat, like when we fought that Nevermore, or that time when…" Weiss looked away, and was almost inaudible, "when I fought the Boarbatusk," she looked back at Ruby, "your plans…work."

Incredulous that Weiss would actually acknowledge her abilities, Ruby was lost for words for a moment, before finally managing "I need to know more about Pyrrha before coming up with a plan. Does she have any weakness we can exploit?"

"Let me see," said Weiss, "in terms of speed, she may not be as fast as you with your Semblance, but she's fast enough for you not to have a pronounced advantage. She can also make up for her relative slowness by using her shield, which is strong enough to withstand most attacks."

"Then can we try to out-range her with our weapons?" said Ruby, "you know, my Crescent Rose is also a high-calibre sniper rifle."

Rolling her eyes at her partner's poorly concealed pride at her weapon, Weiss said "at short range, her weapon – it's called Miló, not sword-javelin-carbine-thing, by the way – can be wielded as a sword, which goes well with her strength; at medium range, it can be thrown as a javelin with deadly force, plus she can use her shield as a backup projectile weapon; at long range Miló's carbine form can shower us with accurate fire. So… no, I don't think we can out-range her. Not even with a high-calibre sniper rifle."

"Maybe we can gang up on her?" said Ruby hopefully.

"No, you dunce!" said Weiss, throwing down her arms, "she has a partner! We have to deal with…"

Then they both recalled the inept blond boy, who fumbled around, who got nailed to a tree, who lost to _Cardin_. Granted, he killed an Ursa Major, but the two both witnessed first hand what assistance he got. The point was, he was just not on the same level as either of them.

And then they remembered that concerned look on Pyrrha's face when he faced the Ursa Major alone. Factoring in what they heard Yang interrogated Jaune about this morning, that left them with one point of attack…

"Jaune!" they said simultaneously.

"If we focus on Jaune," said Ruby, "Pyrrha will be bound to cover him!"

"That will leave her flanks open," said Weiss, "which means we'll be able to-"

"-Crack open her defense!" said Ruby, throwing her arms in the air, "That's it! We have this bagged!"

"So when the match starts-"

"-We go after Jaune with all we have so that Pyrrha will have to bail him out!"

"Yeah!" They high-fived each other, eyes glittering with expectation of the onslaught that was to come.

Jaune suddenly felt a deathly chill down his spine, and shivered.

* * *

Their match was the third after lunch. Ruby and Weiss got to the arena right after lunch to watch the first two, fully confident of their victory. They watched the matches absentmindedly, occupied by their own upcoming one.

Jaune and Pyrrha were nowhere to be seen. It was only when the second match was half-way in progress that they walked into the arena.

Taking it as their cue to prepare for their own match, Ruby and Weiss got to an open area and did warm-up and checked their weapons. They noticed that Jaune, who did the same with Pyrrha at another corner, while still pensive, looked much more determined than at lunch.

At long last the second match ended and Prof Goodwitch called their names. Teams RWBY and JNPR members who had finished their matches cheered for their teammates. Yang held Ruby in a bear hug before letting her go on stage.

Ruby took out Crescent Rose, which unfolded bit by bit to its full length, producing ominous sounds of clicks and clacks. Ruby looked at her opponents, a cocky grin on her face.

Weiss unclipped Myrtenaster and spun the revolver mechanism to white setting. She faced her opponents with her left side, half-squatted, and adopted a standby position, ready to strike any moment. Her expression was that of a marksman taking aim.

Jaune and Pyrrha readied their weapons, adopting the same stance, shield in left hand and sword in right. "Just remember what I told you," Pyrrha whispered, "we can do it."

Jaune nodded in response, his eyes locked forward.

"Ready…" came Prof Goodwitch's signal.

Ruby chambered a round into Crescent Rose.

"Go!"

At the instant of the signal, the audience heard a shot being fired, followed very closely by a droning, whooshing sound. Two figures dashed forward in a blur, leaving behind two streaks of red and white.

As agreed, Ruby went for Jaune's left. In the middle of her recoil-accelerated dash, she drew back Crescent Rose, preparing to strike Jaune with the short blunt end of her blade – she wanted to win, not to kill or maim him. When she had closed the distance, she struck out with all her might, expecting the satisfying sensation of knocking her opponent ten feet back.

… And felt like she hit a solid steel wall. _Ping_! Her giant scythe rebounded, almost cutting her with its curved blade. Startled, Ruby struck out again, to the same result. Jaune's shield, raised to cover himself from the nose down, had stopped her attacks.

Having lost the momentum vital for using Crescent Rose to its full potential, Ruby fired a round at Jaune's shield, using the recoil to fall back.

On her left side, Weiss aimed for the edge of Jaune's right flank uncovered by his shield. When she was in range, she extended her left arm swiftly to stab at him.

When the tip of the blade was one foot from her target, an uncomfortable sensation of her blade grinding on something traveled from her hand to her arm. Her rapier was stuck between Pyrrha's and Jaune's shields.

Pyrrha was fast. She whipped down with Miló with great swiftness, aiming at the exact mid-point of Myrtenaster's blade, where it was the weakest.

Catching the attack from the corner of her eye, Weiss hurriedly retracted her rapier, barely evading the attack. She back flipped, and then glided back several paces to where she started, to find that Ruby had also retreated there.

They exchanged an incredulous glance. Only then did they have time to taka a good look at their opponents.

Jaune and Pyrrha had locked their shields together, forming a small shield wall. Pyrrha stood to the right of Jaune, Miló in hand. Since they both carried their shield on their left hand, it was the only offensive weapon that stuck out.

The audience exploded in to cheers at this unexpected turn of events.

"I think it's working!" whispered Jaune, barely audible amidst the cheering.

* * *

- Forty-five minutes ago -

"Pyrrha, I have a really bad feeling about the match," said Jaune.

"Was that why you shivered so badly just now?" said Pyrrha.

The corridor was empty except for the pair. After Jaune had forced down his lunch at Pyrrha's urging (_"your Aura works less effectively when you are empty-stomached"_), she dragged him to this quiet part of the campus without saying a word.

"Yes," said Jaune, "I felt like a rabbit getting tagged by a hawk. Anyway, why did you drag me here?"

"I want to discuss strategy with you," said Pyrrha, "I want you to listen and then we can practise for a bit."

"What's the deal?"

"I need you to do one thing and one thing only," said Pyrrha, her words slow and deliberate, "when the match starts, I need you to raise your shield, and stay closely at my left at all times. Whatever happens, whatever I'll be doing, stay at your position and raise your shield like I taught you."

"That's it?" said the incredulous Jaune.

"That's it. Leave everything else to me."

"Alright," said Jaune, his shoulders sagging fractionally. Being relegated to such a simple task made him feel a bit useless.

Sensing his thoughts, Pyrrha said "warriors of old fought in this fashion, with their shields locked in an unbroken wall. Each one relied on the one next to him for protection. If one failed to hold position, the whole formation breaks." She put both hands on Jaune's shoulders, "I depend on you to protect me. Without your help, I can't do anything."

Jaune to a slow, deep breath, and puffed out his chest, "I won't fail you," he said.

Pyrrha smiled warmly, "I have faith in you," she said, "now, take out Crocea Mors and practise with me."

They spent the next fifteen minutes practising the formation. Pyrrha told Jaune to stay at her side while she maneuvered quickly. Jaune found that it was tougher than it sounded, but he managed to keep up. He left for the arena, still daunted, but with a new sense of certainty in his gait.

"Once more!"

On Ruby's command, Weiss repeated her attack alongside her partner. She was careful not to repeat her mistake, taking care to steer clear of Pyrrha, only to strike Jaune at too shallow an angle, causing Myrtenaster to slide off the surface of Jaune's shield. It was at this point when Weiss became acutely aware of the fact that a rapier was not exactly the ideal weapon for breaking a shield wall.

Ruby hit a steel wall again. Jaune grunted with effort but bore the brunt of the attack, not budging an inch. Seeing Weiss' blunder, Ruby formulated another plan. "Split up!" she called out.

Pyrrha, not letting them rest, jabbed at Weiss. It was a close call for Weiss again. This time she escaped Pyrrha's stab only by tumbling forward, trying her hardest to remain graceful.

Splitting up, Ruby and Weiss dashed to different directions, setting up to attack Jaune from all angles. Ruby's figure melted into clusters of floating rose petals, reappearing left, right, behind, in front of and above Jaune to deal powerful strikes. Weiss used her glyphs to maneuver swiftly, trying to outflank Jaune, creating streaks of white all over the stage.

Jaune gritted his teeth and allowed his instincts to take over, reacting to the blizzard of attacks without really thinking about how. He focused his attention on channeling his Aura into his shield-arm to fend of the powerful strikes. Pyrrha's hard training was paying off. He could take hits that he had not imagined he was able to take, for longer than he thought he could. Nonetheless, he could feel the attacks taking their toll. His arm was sore and his footing was getting loose. He knew he could not last forever.

Pyrrha, for her part, took jabs at Ruby and Weiss as they closed in on Jaune, managing to score minor hits multiple times. Bit by bit Ruby and Weiss' Aura was chipped away.

The audience gawked at the dazzling performance of both teams. Some were glad that they were not on the receiving end of Ruby's and Weiss' furious attacks. Some were astonished by Pyrrha's expert movements, economic but extremely effective. All were surprised by Jaune's previously unseen grit.

Prof Goodwitch was as surprised as anyone. Her eyes widened in disbelief as Jaune shrugged off strike after strike.

"Mr Arc's performance is surely a pleasant surprise, isn't it?" said a lazy voice from behind her.

Startled, she turned and see Prof Ozpin, whom she had no idea was in the arena, standing behind her, coffee mug in hand.

"Yes. Yes, it is," she said before turning back to the fight.

Taken off guard by Jaune's tenacity, and frustrated by their lack of success, Ruby grew impatient as she watched her team's Aura decrease slowly but inexorably. Desperate to score a hit, she took a short cut to strike at Jaune. In her desperation, she failed to see Weiss striking from the same angle, and collided with her before she could land a hit. The pair lost balanced and both fell to the floor.

"Watch where you're going!" reprimanded Weiss, "This is Emerald Forest all over again!"

"I'm sorry!" said Ruby miserably.

Getting a precious lull in the onslaught, Jaune caught his breath. But he did not let his mind rest and, seeing an opening, called out "Pyrrha!"

Pyrrha threw out her shield, which hit the dazed Ruby squarely in the face before getting pulled back to her hand by her Semblance. Ruby fell on her back in a state of utter confusion.

"One little Beowolf. Two little Beowolves… Three…" she babbled.

Seeing her teammate's predicament, Weiss turned the revolver in Myrtenaster to blue setting with her left hand, grabbed Ruby by her collar with her right, and created a glyph to speed the two of them out of the range of Pyrrha's throws.

"Wake up, Ruby!" said Weiss as she shook Ruby by her shoulder.

Ruby snapped back to consciousness, and said "Weiss, you alright?"

"I'm fine," said Weiss, "Jaune is way too tough, got another plan of yours?"

Ruby took a look at her and Weiss' Aura, and saw that they both had only one third left. If they did not end this quickly, they would find themselves ground down and defeated.

Ruby thought for half a second, and said "I just got one!"

She told Weiss what to do as quickly as possible, then, just as Pyrrha shot at them with her carbine, separating her from Weiss, she flash-stepped off to the other side of Jaune and Pyrrha, opposite Weiss.

Jaune and Pyrrha stood back to back, shield facing Ruby and Weiss respectively.

"Now!" cried Ruby.

With a gesture of her hands, Weiss created a blue glyph under Jaune, levitating him a foot above the ground. He wriggled in mid-air, but could not find his bearing.

Ruby pointed Crescent Rose to her rear, ready to launch a strike at the immobile Jaune.

_Gotcha._

Jaune had mere moments to think of a way. He knew of Ruby's insane attacking power. Unable to use his shield, he would not survive this strike.

He closed his eyes. He was leaving this one to Lady Fortune.

…And Pyrrha. "Pyrrha, get Weiss!" he shouted with all his might.

"Done!" she said as she transformed Miló into a javelin and, without wasting time to take aim, trusting her hand's feeling, launched Miló with the help of a carbine shot straight at Weiss.

Ruby launched herself at Jaune at the exact same instance. She sped forward in a bolt of red.

Weiss, focusing on maintaining the glyph, was caught off guard. She lifted Myrtenaster in defense, but she started too late. Miló hit the hilt of Myrtenaster and knocked it out of Weiss' hand.

The glyph under Jaune disappeared, making him fall back to the floor, landing on his bottom.

Ruby, aiming at the airborne Jaune, did not have time to adjust her aim, and missed backside-borne Jaune by mere inches. She overshot her target, and landed beside Weiss.

Repositioning himself beside Pyrrha, Jaune saw the opportunity.

"Charge!" he called out.

Their shields locked, Jaune and Pyrrha advanced on their off-balance opponents quickly but carefully. Ruby was still readopting her stance, and Weiss had just picked up Myrtenaster when Jaune and Pyrrha closed the distance. Pyrrha struck Weiss with the flat of her sword, knocking Myrtenaster from her hand once more. Jaune used the last of his strength to bash Ruby with his shield, knocking her down.

Prof Ozpin grinned enigmatically behind his mug.

"Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee are both down!" announced Prof Goodwitch, "The victors are Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos!"

Jaune threw down his weapons, and threw his arms in the air, yelling incoherently in celebration.

"We did it! _We did it_!" he shouted. He turned to Pyrrha, motioning to hug her, but then saw her heaving bosom and heard her low panting, and checked himself, gulping. Instead he settled for grabbing her hands.

"I wouldn't have done this if not for you," he said, "thank you. Thank you for everything."

Pyrrha smiled back at him, and said "No, I should be the one thanking you. Thank you for trusting me."

"You surely surprised all of us today, Mr Arc," said Prof Goodwitch, "didn't he, Prof Ozpin?"

She turned to found that he was gone.

She turned back to Jaune. "Whatever you have been doing to improve your skills, keep doing it," she said.

"I will," said Jaune, looking at Pyrrha, "I most certainly will."

Ruby and Weiss got back up to their feet and walked over to Jaune and Pyrrha.

"That was a nice match," said Weiss with much dignity, "but I promise we will best you next ti-."

"Jaune," Weiss was interrupted by Ruby, who grabbed Jaune by the hands, "when did you get so good? Was it a new polish for your shield? Can I get some too? Promise me you won't get your shield upgraded without showing me first, OK? Pro- Ah!"

Weiss had dragged her back to the audience.

"Now I see why you trained me to use my shield so hard," said Jaune as they descended the stage.

"I'm glad to hear that," said Pyrrha, "tomorrow, we'll start working on your sword."

"Really? Great!"

Jaune was exhausted, but he had never felt so invigorated before. He was so excited that he did not notice Prof Ozpin watching him in the galleries, sipping from his mug.

* * *

**A/N: Next chapter will probably be shorter and less intense, because writing and reading so many fight scenes can be tiring, I guess.**

**Until next time!**


	5. Chapter 5: A Wild Rival Appears!

**A/N: I should have done this a long time ago, but I want to thank everyone who has reviewed/followed/favourited/read this story. Without all of you feeding my ego so generously, I wouldn't have written this far.**

**Special kudos to **AnimangoOrange**, who took the time to do a chapter-by-chapter review. Seriously, you are awesome.**

**I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as well!**

* * *

Chapter 5: A Wild Rival Appears!

It was with the extra invigoration from a night of good sleep that Pyrrha entered the canteen the morning after their pair practice. Rays of sunshine spread from high windows, painting stripes of vivid highlights on the tables. Students milled around, residues of excitement still evident on their faces.

Pyrrha's gait was light. In her eyes, everything, even the parts of the room in the shadows, looked realer and livelier than ever. Jaune rewarded her patience and persistence by showing how much he had grown. Jaune overcame great foes side by side with her. Jaune said she was _perfect_. Jaune tried to hug her. Jaune only stopped himself from hugging her because he noticed she was a grown girl and wanted to be a gentleman. Jaune _smiled _(_the teeth so white and the curl of his lips so innocent yet sensual_) when he said Good Morning to her this morning.

If it were a kiddy cartoon, any moment she might have burst out singing a cheesy tune, with little birds circling her head and little flowers puffing up from her fingertips..

Watching the usually mature and collected Pyrrha reduced to a love-struck teenage girl made Ren's task of keeping a straight face while humouring Nora's many antics that much harder, as he was trying his darnedest not to curl into a ball, laughing.

His plight was exacerbated by the fact that the boy causing Pyrrha's transformation was blissfully ignorant of what he had done to his partner. "Why are you humming a tune, Pyrrha?" asked Jaune blithely, "did something good happen?"

"Nothing," said Pyrrha in a sing-song tone.

The amiable if somewhat quiet air at their breakfast table was broken by a hoarse voice coming from the table beyond.

They turned to see Russel, at Team CRDL's usual table, pulling at something brown and pink. It was the ears of the rabbit Faunus girl from before. She held a tray in her hands, trying her hardest not to lose balance, while enduring the pain of her sensitive ears.

"Hey freak," Cardin said, "seeing that you have so kindly brought us our food, how about we repay you by cutting off these freakish ears of yours so that you can look more like a normal person?"

Cardin's gang jeered at the girl. Their schadenfreude had added fuel from their humiliating losses the day before.

The girl bore the pain and put the tray down on the table, wishing her tormenters would be satisfied. Unfortunately for her, their hurt pride compelled them to seek an outlet for their frustration. Russel handed her ears over to Cardin, who pulled at her ears even harder, forcing her head up. Sky took out his weapon, sliding a nasty-looking blade menacingly close to her rabbit ears.

Just as tears of pain and anguish welled up from her eyes, the girl glimpsed a gloved hand grabbing Cardin's forearm firmly. "Cardin," she heard a voice, just as firm and strong as the hand, "what did I tell you about messing with my friends?"

The grip on her ears loosened instantly. "I… I had no idea she is your friend!" stuttered Cardin, "I have never seen her hanging out with you before!"

"Well, she is now," said the voice, "let her go. At once"

The girl glanced at her savior. She saw a tall figure clad in gleaming white armor, with a double arc emblem adorning the chest. Blond hair framed a face that, in her moist eyes, might as well have belonged to Adonis himself. Rays of sunlight accentuated his features, almost like in a staged photo shot. For a moment, the girl forgot all about the pain in her ears, the hustle and bustle of the canteen, or her moist eyes. All she could see was her savior, noble as a prince in the morning sunshine.

"So you are playing the white knight now, huh, Jauney Boy?" (_so his name is Johnny!_) Cardin motioned to pull the girl towards him, "rescue the damsel in distress! How heroi-"

He was cut short by the look he received from Nora, over Jaune's shoulder: a look that said she had unfinished business with him; or more specifically, his legs.

Colours rushed away from his face. He released the girl's ears hurriedly, and said "I'm sorry I bothered your friend, Jaune. Please don't let this delay your breakfast any longer."

Jaune was slightly taken aback by Cardin's suddenly deferential manner, but nonetheless took the girl by the arm and guided her towards his table.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" said Jaune.

"I'm fine," said the girl, her head low, almost inaudibly, "thank… thank you."

"Don't mention it. I know how much of a jerk Cardin is," said Jaune, then he remembered they were not technically friends yet, "the name is Jaune. Jaune Arc. "

"I'm Velvet," said the girl, who ventured to look up at Jaune but lowered her head immediately to hide her blush (_his eyes are the same shade of blue as clear sky_), "Velvet Scarlatina. I recognize you from yesterday. You fought really well."

"It was only because I have a really great partner," said Jaune, "by the way, you look really cute! You should show your face more."

He moved to lift her chin, but she turned around to avoid his hand. Her heartbeat was almost audible.

By this point of his Beacon career Jaune was catching up with the idea, unbelievable as it was, that ladies might not find his confident approach the most mesmerizing in the world, and cursed inwardly that he could not stop himself this time.

It was a pity that no HUD was there to tell him that all he did to Velvet this morning had been Super Effective.

"Anyway, are you going to meet anyone?" asked Jaune. Velvet shook her head slightly in reply, "if not, then why don't you sit with my team? I'll introduce you to them."

Jaune guided Velvet to his team's table. Teams JNPR and RWBY, who had been watching the little drama unfold, greeted them with curious looks.

At the approach of the new girl, who trailed after Jaune's sleeve with admiration and adoration gleaming from her eyes, Pyrrha subconsciously grabbed her fork that bit harder. A girl who had been used to doing better than everyone at everything, she was unable to pin down the tightening in her chest as jealousy (_it's just heartburn! Who am I jealous _of_, anyway?_).

Jaune introduced Velvet to his friends, who in turn introduced themselves one by one. Blake's introduction was particularly warm, in contrast to her usually aloof attitude to strangers. The last to go was Pyrrha.

"I am Pyrrha Nikos," she put out a hand and Velvet took it gingerly, "I am Jaune's partner."

By the tone of her, she might as well have declared she was his _wife_.

"Nice to meet you, Pyrrha," said Velvet, "so you are the 'great partner' Jaune talked about."

Pyrrha's eyes widened. "He talked about what?"

"Just telling the truth," Jaune butted in, "you _are_ great."

Colour rose on Pyrrha's face, to which Jaune took no notice because he was busy getting Velvet a seat; but it did not escape Ren. Or Velvet.

Pyrrha sized up her new friend/rival (_I'm getting really tired of this_). She was definitely pretty, but "cute" or "adorable" would be better words. Although Velvet obviously did not… stack up to Pyrrha, she was the right kind of thin; slender, actually. Her long hair and small, round face gave her the air of an innocent schoolgirl, which, in fact, she was.

_He's just being the noble gentleman that he is,_ Pyrrha thought,_ don't read too much into it. Anyway, she looks so cute and huggable... Is that it? Jaune likes girls who are small and delicate? Come to think of it, Weiss is small. So is Ruby. Or is it the rabbit ears?_

A life of being bullied made Velvet very sensitive to others' minute changes in moods, and, seeing Pyrrha's gaze lingering on her, something clicked in her mind.

Teams RWBY and JNPR proved to be easy friends to Velvet, and she was soon assimilated into the group (or in Yang, Ruby and Nora's cases, _engulfed_). Somehow Blake got Velvet to sit beside her, and started chatting with her right away. Team RWBY looked at this rare sight with an understanding smile.

When Pyrrha and Jaune got up to return the cutleries, Velvet leaned towards Blake, and said in a low voice "Blake, can I ask you a question?"

"Certainly."

"So," said Velvet, taking a deep breath, "is Pyrrha Jaune's girlfriend?"

She should have spoken more softly, because a wry grin appeared on Yang's face.

Schemes were already springing up in her mind without any prompting._ I __wonder… Am I really a rampant gossip, or am I just very good at thinking like one?_

* * *

**A/N: did I just totally rip off _Making Money_ by the peerless Terry Pratchett (get well soon!) with the last sentence? _Of course I did._**

**Until next time!**


	6. Chapter 6: Girls' Talk(s)

**A/N: I'm sorry I couldn't put this up earlier but work got in the way. Chinese New Year is coming up (yes, I'm Chinese and I live in Hong Kong) so I hope I can pick up the pace.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Girls' Talk(s)

"So, is Pyrrha Jaune's girlfriend?"

Blake, thanks to her quiet watchfulness and a sensitivity towards feelings trained by reading extensively (*ahem* _Ninjas of Love_ *ahem*), was more perceptive than most about the nuances of others' words and actions. As a result, she could instantly grasp the meaning of the loaded question that Velvet, her first Faunus friend in Beacon, had just asked her, with her hushed voice and eager looks.

It was not just a question out of idle curiosity, nor was it a non-committal small talk about some new friends; it wasn't even some frivolous solicitation for gossip, oh no not. Blake could almost hear Velvet's mind going "if you say No then I'm going to go after Jaune with all I've got."

Blake knew that her answer could decide the happiness of at least three people. _It's not something I should decide_, she thought.

Past the hot potato to its rightful owner, that would be the best strategy. "Why don't you ask her yourself?" said Blake.

Just as Velvet was thinking of an answer, Yang reached across Blake, her face no more than three inches from Velvet's, and said to her with a wry smile, "the more important question is, why are _you_ so curious about it?"

Intimidated by Yang's aggressive approach, Velvet cowered behind Blake with a loud gasp. "Nothing special!" she said, "it's just simple curiosity, that's it!"

"_Of course_ it is," said Yang, "and definitely _not_ because you want to rule out a potential rival."

"What…what are you talking about? I don't understand a word you say."

"Oh, come on, cut it out. It's so obvious I almost feel embarrassed. You should see that way you look at Ja-"

"Yang," Blake cut in, putting a finger on Yang's lips, her eyes narrowed like a cat's, "I think you are scaring Velvet."

"Hey! I'm just starting to have fun!" exclaimed Yang, "spoilsport!"

"I think Velvet has a different idea of fun than you," said Blake, "because she is clearly not enjoying this conversation."

Seeing her partner was bent on defending her new best friend, Yang decided that she could leave this for later, and turned away to talk with Ruby about the latest model of shotgun shells.

"Thank you, Blake," Velvet said as she resurfaced from behind Blake, "Is she always like this?"

"She just gets a tad bit excited when she thinks there's a chance to poke her nose into somebody's business," said Blake, "don't worry about it too much. Not everyone is gossipy like her."

Velvet let out a sigh of relief, and continued with her breakfast.

"Anyway," said Blake, "why did you ask me about Pyrrha and Jaune?"

"You too, Blake!" said Velvet miserably.

"Yang's manners might have been disagreeable," said Blake as she set down her fork, "but what she said holds true: your eyes did brighten quite visibly for Jaune."

Velvet buried her face in shame. "It's really that obvious, eh?" she said, "I don't want to live anymore…"

"It's OK," said Blake, who placed a consoling hand on Velvet's shoulder, "you aren't the first to show interest. I just can't seem to get the attraction. I mean… I suppose he looks alright, and he's funny in a harmless, goofy way, but he's… he's _Jaune_!"

"If I tell you," said Velvet, "will you promise me never to tell anyone?"

"I can assure you I'm very experienced in keeping secrets."

Velvet took a sip of juice, and put down the cup with more force than was strictly necessary. "When I was little, kids used to pick on me because of my rabbit ears. They called my "freak" or "rabbit" and pulled my ears and made me run errands for them."

"Just like Cardin and his gang."

"Just like Cardin and his gang. I took it all as best I could, and I learned how to fight – I learnt quite well, too, that's why I end up in Beacon - but sometimes it was just too much for me, and I would lie on my bed with my face to the wall and hide myself under my bed cover, pretending the outside world and all the mean people didn't exist. Then my mom would sit on the bed, put a hand on my back and started telling me a story about a hero who steps in to protect innocent people from the wicked. She said the hero only helps people who want to help themselves, so she told me to be a brave little girl and one day, the hero of my life would come and save me from all the miseries.

"So I gritted my teeth bore it, hoping one day my hero would come and save me. But I waited and waited, still no one was there to save me. When I entered Beacon, I hoped that things would change, this school being here to train students to protect people and all that. But only Cardin and his gang showed up and they became the newest of an endless line of bullies. Until today. Until… Jaune. He stood up for me. He stopped the people picking on me. He made friends with me and took me into his circle. Do you know how much it means to me? Do you know how it feels to have all the wishes of your life granted after so long? I think I've found my hero, and he is Jaune."

Blake half-opened her mouth, trying to say something, but, failing to figure exactly what she wanted to say, closed it again.

"I must sound pretty silly, don't I?" said Velvet, tucking a strand her hair behind her ear, "still dreaming of a prince at seventeen? You must think I'm hopeless."

"No!" said Blake, "I know what it's like to be picked on because of who you are born to be! Holding on to hope is one way of coping. I won't say it's the perfect way, but maybe, it's better than, let's just say, more extreme measures." "In hindsight," she added under her breath.

"So, are you going to help me?" said Velvet.

Blake wished she could say yes, and maybe even play the matchmaker that she really had no idea how to be. But she truly cared for Velvet, and knew that she was infatuated more with the idea of a knight in shining armor than with Jaune himself. Encouraging this tendency would just push her to more dependence, and she would never learn to stand up for herself.

Of course, there was also the matter with Pyrrha. Although they were not exactly close, she valued her as a friend and wanted her to be happy, too.

"I can't promise you anything," said Blake, "this really should be a matter strictly between you and Jaune. But you can always count on me to lend you my ears

"Thank you, Blake," said Velvet, "you are a great friend, and it's only the first day we met!"

"Don't mention it," said Blake, "we Fau- I mean we girls should stick with each other, shouldn't we?"

* * *

Pyrrha walked out of the canteen trailing behind her teammates (plus Velvet), still unable to calm down from the unfamiliar feeling of something rightfully hers being threatened. If she had not been so distracted, she would have noticed Yang waiting behind the door.

"Where're all the sparkles and little flowers from this morning?" said Yang.

"Oh! It's you, Yang," said Pyrrha, putting a hand over her chest, "you gave me quite a start!"

"I bet I'm not your first unpleasant surprise this morning."

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Come on, Cereal Box. We all know what, or I should say, whom-" Yang motioned to Jaune and Velvet who walked closely beside him, "you are thinking about. Look at them, the knight and her damsel. Don't they look cute together?"

"And what does it have to do with me?" said Pyrrha, "It's Jaune's choice whom he makes friends with and I'm proud of what he did today."

"Really? It really doesn't bother you that she looks at him like he's the most wonderful person in the world? You can truly, honestly say that you are alright with how Jaune acts all like a charming gentleman around her?"

"Yang!" said Pyrrha, annoyance seeping into her usually patient voice, "what exactly is your point?"

"My point is," said Yang, leaning towards Pyrrha conspiratorially, "you want Jaune, and we both know it – don't argue! – and it looked like you were making progress when Bam! This cute little Faunus girl came in and stole the spot beside Jaune. The question is: what are you going to do about it?"

"What makes you say that?" said Pyrrha, trying to control her volume so that Jaune could not hear her, "I-"

"So you are saying you _don't_ want Jaune?"

"…I'm not saying _that_. Nor am I admitting it, of course. But, you know, sometimes I just don't know what he's thinking. Am I just a partner or something more? He's just so, blithe and all and I really can't tell."

"You shouldn't worry. You've got… assets that few have," said Yang as she eyed Pyrrha's ample bosom suggestively, "I'm sure Jaune's resistance will melt in no time."

Pyrrha blushed at the mention of her physicality, "I'm not so sure about that. You know Jaune tried to chat up Weiss the first time we met. And he gets along well with your sister. And now… there's Velvet. It seems like he finds small girls more attractive."

"No way! _All_ guys love them big and firm like ours. No exception." As if to punctuate her point, Yang made to grope Pyrrha's chest.

"Will you stop that!" said Pyrrha, "I won't feint modesty, and I know I am considered attractive by most standards. But the other girls also have things going for them. Weiss is beautiful and elegant like a princess; Ruby is adorable and enthusiastic in a puppy sort of way; and Velvet is so fragile she just makes you want to protect her: _I_ want to protect her myself if Jaune didn't step in."

"So, that's it?" said Yang, "you are just going to give up? Doesn't sound like a four-time Tournament Champion, to simply give up."

"I think I'll just leave things as they are and see where the chips fall."

"Well, it's your man you are giving up," Yang said, "just want you to know that if you want advice on getting a man, yours truly have the tons of awesome experiences and tips to share."

"Er… thanks, anyway," said Pyrrha as she took a few strides to catch up with her teammates.

Yang watched her form with a smirk spreading on her face.

"I don't know what it is, but I know you are up to something," said a voice from behind her.

Yang turned and saw "Blake!" said Yang, "you could have said hello first!"

"And a hunch tells me it has to do with Pyrrha, Jaune and Velvet," Blake continued.

"I _might_ have some little ideas in mind that _might_ advance our friends' romantic lives and _might_ provide a little amusement to all of us, not the least to myself. So what? Are you going to stop me?"

"No," said Blake, her voice steady as her sword arm, "I want in."

* * *

**A/N: I'm not sure if you guys like it so talky, but I tried to make it as not-dry as possible. Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Until next time!**


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